Chicago Cubs coach not ruling out new role for Edward Cabrera ahead of return

The Chicago Cubs went from having a critical dearth of starting pitching to having a surplus of rotation arms in, seemingly, just a matter of hours.

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Picking up Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes at the trade deadline added immediate strength to a starting rotation that had been besieged by injury from the very beginning of the season.

As things stand right now, the Cubs have seven starters vying for five rotation spots—Gausman, Holmes, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea, Javier Assad, and David Peterson. In the not-too-distant future, there will be eight pitchers competing for those five spots.

Hard-throwing righty Edward Cabrera made his second rehab start for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs on Wednesday and is reportedly one outing away from rejoining the major league team.

Pitching against the Indianapolis Indians, the 28-year-old looked dominant. He struck out eight in four shutout innings, walking none and only allowing one hit in the 55-pitch appearance.

Performances like Wednesday’s add to the Cubs’ good problem to have when it comes to starting pitching.

New role for Edward Cabrera?

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But with so many rotation-viable arms in the mix now, could Cabrera be utilized in other roles, specifically in the bullpen? Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy admits that it’s a possibility, although the goal is still to keep him as a starter.

“I think we’re definitely open to doing that,” Hottovy told reporters. “He’s got an electric arm. It’d be crazy not to think about him coming into a postseason game and (throwing) the back-end two, three innings of a game. Our goal is to get him back as a starter. How things end up at the end of the year — you know how the postseason is, it’s an all-hands-on-deck approach.”

A frustrating 2026

Cabrera has been on the shelf since suffering a left hamstring strain on June 23 against the New York Mets at Citi Field while attempting to cover first base on a ground ball. There’s been no firm date on a possible return, but there will be at least one more rehab outing before making the decision on when to bring him back. The luxury of having this surplus of starters is that there’s now no pressure to rush him along.

So far this season, Cabrera has had an up-and-down year. Over his first seven starts with the Cubs, he delivered a 3.27 ERA and was the starting rotation presence the team had hoped for when they swapped their top prospect Owen Caissie, along with no. 11 prospect Cristian Hernandez and 19-year-old infielder Edgardo De Leon to get him from the Miami Marlins over the offseason.

Over the last seven starts before his injury, though, he struggled. Affected by a blister and hand cramping issues, he posted an ugly 7.55 ERA during that run.

It’s likely that the Cubs will give Cabrera every possible benefit of every possible doubt to keep a spot in the rotation as a young arm with a tremendous upside, under team control through the 2028 season.

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